A recipe alone doesn’t make cookies, but it’s a start. And great chefs don’t need a recipe book, but someone with the discipline to follow a recipe can cook like a great chef with discipline and a little practice. And the same is true for the recipe for family success. What is this common sense recipe that can enable any family to dramatically increase the odds of living a life tending more toward excellence and true happiness than survival? It’s a matter of dodging the predictable and avoidable pitfalls outlined in this series. Based on tried and true principles of project management, this approach has been proven to triple the chances of achieving success in the business world, and there’s no reason to believe this same benefit won’t be realized in your family. This series contains practical guidance for avoiding the “dirty dozen” pitfalls of the most important project of your life, your family. Don’t risk falling into these all too familiar traps! The guidelines are grouped into stages, and you should tackle each stage in this order to build a solid foundation for the next.
Stage 1 – Envisioning Your Family’s Fabulous Future
If you were having a dinner party you’d probably have a reason, even if it’s just to have an enjoyable night with friends, make a guest list, and think about the menu before starting to heat up the oven. As a result of your thoughtful preparations you’re more likely to have a successful party. But, unbelievable as it may seem, most people don’t spend as much time planning their lives as that dinner party!
Stage 2 – Planning for Your Family’s Success
Achieving success requires a plan, and most people avoid planning like the plague. But having a plan will more than double your chances of achieving your goals. Who’s going to do what, and by when? What are the risks, assumptions and beliefs inherent in our plan? Don’t be fooled by the simplicity of this process. It’s how the most successful companies in the world have amassed their enormous fortunes.
Stage 3 – Putting Your Plan Into Action
Plans are great fun, but without action it’s just a waste of a time. No need to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in a day, but by taking take a small step forward each day in the direction of your goals you’ll certainly be farther along than the family that just spends time perfecting their plan, or waiting for the perfect time for action.
Stage 4 – Living This Way Every Day
We become what we think about, and what we do every day. At some point this family project process isn’t something you do, it’s something you live. We need to integrate this kind of process into the fabric of our family.
EXERCISE, NOT READING, BUILDS MUSCLE! Get ready for tomorrow by imagining and dreaming about your ideal family future tonight!
